Turkey sandwich

if you're looking for a great jigging streamer that breathes: http://www.orvis.com/p/grumpy-muppet/18s7. in white, it's responsible for my PB brown, and I anticipate it crushing both, trout and smallies anywhere with alewives.

Chasing river smallmouth with a fly rod is a blast! I'm relatively new to the fly game (3-4 years) versus nearly 30 years with spinning and casting gear. I love all of it, but there really is something special about having a smallie go nuts on a popper or Clouser/Deceiver stripped frantically right below the surface. For bass, I use a 9' 6wt or a 9' 8wt depending upon the presentation/conditions/etc. This fall I started playing with sink tip streamer lines, and I'm really liking Orvis's Bank Shot (I think it's called). I'm also becoming a huge streamer junkie, whether I'm fishing for smallmouth or trout. Currently, I'm really digging the action/profiles of Drunk and Disorderlies, and Grumpy Muppets. The Drunk and Disorderly moves so much like a jointed slow-rising jerk bait, only it looks alive. As for numbers baits, for smallmouth, I've found it really hard to beat a conehead woolly bugger or variations like a tequeely.

I own a few and never really found a lot of success with them, for whatever reason. They just never produced for me like other lipless cranks, and I have no idea why. Also, I would not include them in a conversation with Fat Raps. Fat Raps have probably caught me as many bass as any other crank bait, perhaps with only the Fat Free series in a close second.

A lot of rivers here in PA have strong alewife and (in the Delaware) strong shad populations. During cold snaps, mimicking that shad/alewife kill can be HUGE. I've had good days fishing for smallmouth on the Susquehanna doing this, and it's a major pattern on the Delaware for trophy brown trout (be it jerk baits or white streamer patterns). If you're fishing a tailwater, and you have access to the mile or so below the dam, this pattern can be fire.

Jerkbaits are rarely my go-to lure, but for cold water, and a slow dieing action, I like Shadow Raps

it can't really be beat for that price. Still, consider the Feelfree pedal drive when you can scratch up another $1k.

I have a Lure 13.5. quick list of pros and cons: Pros: Super stable Carries tons of gear Runs well in super shallow water Can do TONS of creative rigging Is sonar-ready A pedal drive is available for less than $1k Cons: You'll want a rudder kit to help fix the tracking It's heavy as hell to car top (as is the Hobie) Not the fastest boat to paddle. My .02 - get the Lure for $500 (that's a crazy cheap price), invest in the Feelfree pedaldrive, and rudder kit. That's still going to leave you with a $600+ difference to invest in a paddle, sonar, etc. If you really wanted to get creative, using a rudder kit, you could even install a trolling motor on the Lure for less than the Hobie.

Every manufacturer having different definitions of "fast", "X-fast", etc aside, in a world where money wasn't an issue and space wasn't a concern, I'd probably favor X-Fast rods more than I do. However, since I've only got so much room on the kayak and currently the idea of owning another 3-4 presentation specific rods is out of the question I like using a MH F for most of my jig fishing. The issues that I have with X-fast rods are that the suggested lure weights are generally more restricted (the tip is much more brittle in most cases) and that I find that I can generally cast further with a Fast rod. Currently, I'm fishing most jigs on a 7' MH F Legend Elite and it's stellar rod that allows me to fish from about 3/8oz up to around an ounce/just over very comfortably. Also, I do spend a lot of time fishing in current, and to me, feeling EVERYTHING and being able to differentiate between drifting, rolling over the bottom, dragging along rock, hitting a soft or weed bottom, and ultimately any kind of hit is huge. With a more moderate action, even with a high end rod, I would have a much, much harder time feeling those kinds of changes.

I gave up on trying to reason this years ago when I was introduced to using madtoms as live bait. Sculpins are kind of the same way with the super sharp fins, and predators still love them, too. I guess it just stresses the importance of predators taking baitfish head first.

the Lure WITH pedal drive for less than $500?!?

With your initial post, I'm confused. I'm not certain if you're asking questions as to how to prevent the problems you're having or offering tips as to how to prevent those problems. The only rod that's given me issues with connection knots was a Rage rod towards the end of last season. My plan is to upgrade the guides. Otherwise, I've very rarely had issues with connection knots breaking and I'm almost always using Uni to Uni connections. Was the original question regarding the braid itself snapping?

Yes. following surgery, you'd likely be wearing a clam shell hard brace. A soft brace afterwards does not replace actually training your core and rebuilding strength. I use a belt religiously for any kind of heavy lifting in the gym and the brace is used on the water when needed as a supplement.

I know this world well. The above notes on all back injuries being different, individuals responding differently to treatments, and even the idea that one treatment on it's own are pretty spot on. Here's my story... I was an athlete through my of my 20s, competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission grappling, and teaching them alongside MMA. I was in excellent shape, and like most wrestler's you know, had excellent core and back strength. And then in 2013 I was rear-ended in a car accident that herniated a total of 7 discs (depending upon which MRIs you read... and interpretation and reading have their own problems...) ranging from my C3-4, through L5-S1. I've suffered from constant neck and back spasms, severe numbness, tingling, and radiating pain through my arms, weakness, numbness in my left leg, sleeplessness, etc. There were times when sitting for more than 30 minutes was intolerable and it felt nearly impossible to hold my head up. This isn't touching on how it changed my career, economics, other elements of my lifestyle, or the psychological mess that followed. In short, this forum's censors wouldn't allow me to properly describe how awful it has been at times. That said, this forum was also helpful for me in that it allowed me to learn and share even when I've been too banged up to get out on the water. As for treatment, I've had nerve ablations, steroid injections, chiropractic and massage work, stretching exercises, a wide variety of PT, inversion/decompression, TENS, every painkiller and muscle relaxer imaginable (Dilaudid makes you feel completely numb to the world, and taking it really shed some light on how someone can become so easily addicted to heroin), and ultimately an L5-S1 fusion. To say the least, the accident has put me through the ringer, but I have learned some things. Being in Philadelphia, I have incredible health care options and one of the best bar surgeons in the world performed my fusion. Generally, the surgery has a lot of risks and doesn't always fix the problems, so it was a last resort. I was not a candidate for having the disc shaved (mentioned above), and I don't know what my surgery decisions would have been without access to Dr. Vaccaro and Rothman Institute. If sciatica is your issue and you are a candidate for having the disc shaved, the recovery can be very fast and with little risk. I'd advise that route before looking into a fusion or disc replacement where possible. If surgery becomes something you're seriously considering, please PM me and I'll be glad to offer whatever advice and answer any kinds of questions I can. My surgery was in 2015, the recovery was a very long process that took close to 2 years before I started to feel a new "normal" (saying I felt healed or 100% wouldn't be accurate). Now, I have to be mindful of certain things, make sure that I'm in the gym exercising, and not allowing myself to spend prolonged periods in any one position for any long period of time. As for fishing, I was able to get out more in 2017 than I had in a very long time. I have a very comfortable kayak that allows me to be out for a full day if I'm smart and wading in trout streams has become possible again. Do I have rough days afterwards? Sometimes, but compared to what I was feeling daily before surgery, I'll kindly accept them. I wear a back brace probably 90% of the time I'm on the water and it does seem to help provide support. Hopefully some of this helps. I'm still dealing with the legal mess that's still going on, and typing this out is kind of cathartic for me. Good luck, and if I can help in any way, please reach out.

I'm sorry for your loss.

you answered your own question.

Getting skunked happens to everyone. I feel like we could have a support group thread, if not sub-forum on here. Winter fishing in PA typically involves dealing with ice and can be rough. Smallies tend to be more willing to play than largemouth, but water under 45 degrees can be tough, one exception (in my experience) has been during bright warm days following the cold nasty weather. The further you go under 50, in my experience, the less likely you are to find active crayfish and baitfish. Sometimes, though, you'll chance upon some luck during a cold snap if it happens to cause a kill-off shad/alewives. In lakes, I've had very little success with this, but rivers are a different story, especially in places like tailwaters below dams.

Killer post @smalljaw67 I need to hit you up the next time I haul my kayak over your way.

@flyfisher is spot on. It is absolutely worth it to search for used gear or save up to get the boat you want. An unstable kayak, or one that doesn't fish well to your style or your local waterways can be more of a hindrance than an asset. Watching guys complain about and then try to modify low-end kayaks in Facebook groups is kind of like staring at a bad car accident. What kills me is that the amount of time, energy, and money spent building outriggers and poorly-imagined sonar pods would have easily been better spent picking up an extra shift, doing some odd jobs, etc to have the extra cash to get something more functional. This month I saw someone use PVC pipes to build outriggers for a Sun Dolphin. Outriggers on a Sun Dolphin. IIRC the Field and Stream sit on top boats are made by/in conjunction with Feelfree and, to my understanding, fish well for the money.

@Scott F hit the nail on the head. in very cold water, smallies can be extremely difficult to coax into biting, even when you do find them. Generally, anywhere you can find very slow current, you have a chance at finding tons of them stacked up. They want a place that is going to be stable, have enough depth to provide protection from birds, and that will be stable even when snow melts and the river levels rise. I generally don't get out a whole lot this time of year (the ice jams on the Susquehanna and Delaware have been terrifying), but when I do, I key on areas like oxbows, points, tails of islands, etc. Even better if those locations also provide close access to shallow rock where fish can feed/sun themselves on warmer, bright days. As for bait, small and subtle is generally the way to go. It's not uncommon for sub 40 degree smallmouth to feed largely on stonefly/caddis/mayfly nymphs. In streams where fish like shad or alwifes are present, a shock in temperature can kill them off in bulk and can be a great pattern in the days after a cold snap.

Man, this is hard to remember. T-rigged 7.5" Power Worm in Christmas Cider (I miss this color. A lot.) Bass Assassin soft plastic jerk bait Jig and craw (more big fish than anything else... probably by far) Super Spook have been the best big fish baits, for me. An honorable mention? Fat Free Shad.

Thanks to having limited space on a totally packed kayak, I've settled on organizing soft plastics by keeping them in their original packages grouped in large ziplock freezer bags by style/type (tubes, grubs, drop shot baits, beavers, craws, curl tail worms, finesse worms, etc). The allows me to pack them under the seat, in the hatch, etc while leaving space for 2 crates in the back for plastic cases with hard baits and terminal tackle. It's not perfect, and sometimes it makes organization/keeping inventory a bit tougher, but I can choose the baits appropriate for the conditions and species without sacrificing storage for other tackle, clothes and rain gear, emergency stuff, etc.

The photos of the Susquehanna and Upper Delaware are crazy this year. I was hoping to sneak away this past weekend for a trip on the upper Delaware and then I saw the pictures and said, "NOPE!"

What's your budget? The old IMX rods are still considered great sticks, if you still have them. If you want to try something different at the $200 mark, the Avid and Avid X lines from St Croix are still really, really good and won't break the bank.

Welcome back! The good news is that now there are a ton of options for great rods in the $200-$250 price range. The IMX and Avid lines are still considered amongst the best bang for the buck in the industry, but you'll hear a ton of opinions from a ton of different forum members all based on their tastes. What type of rod are you looking for? What kinds of grips do you prefer?

I've used a 7'-7'3" MH F jig rod for as long as I can remember. With St Croix, this usually has me covered presenting lures up to a little over an ounce. Most of the jigs I fish are 3/8-5/8oz and it's RARE for me to fish over 3/4oz. So, a heavy or extra heavy stick doesn't appeal to me for most of the water I'm fishing. I also find that a MH F rod in the 7'-7'6 range (depending upon preferences) is going to be much, much more versatile in that it's your regular jig and soft plastics rod, versus a specific rod you'll only use for punching heavy stuff. For that price point, I very much like the Avid/Avid X series, as well as Fenwick's Aetos. In the $180-$200 range you can get into some really nice rods.